Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) reveals the most peaceful countries in the world. Despite living in the most peaceful century in human history, the world has become less peaceful over the last decade.

Asia-Pacific

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India | The Indian parliament’s adoption of a constitutional amendment bill has paved the way for the biggest tax reform in the $2 trillion economy’s history, as Narendra Modi’s government prepares to usher in a dramatic change in the tax regime: a single goods and services tax (GST) that subsumes all central, state and local levies.

China’s recent efforts to make it easier for global investors to access its enormous stock markets in Shanghai and Shenzhen were not enough to persuade MSCI to include these “China A shares” in its widely followed Emerging Markets Index just yet.

China
When Alibaba announced in May that it was hiring former Goldman Sachs managing director Douglas Feagin to run the international unit of its finance arm, Ant Financial, many observers had a sense of déjà vu.

Philippines
Investor unease over the future of the Philippines, one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing economies, has soared following Rodrigo Duterte’s landslide victory in the May presidential election.

Singapore has overtaken Hong Kong as Asia’s top financial center and now ranks third globally behind London and New York. This is the key takeaway from the latest Global Financial Centres Index (GFCI), a ranking by British commercial think-tank Z/Yen Group.

Maybank Islamic is developing outside Malaysia, establishing a footprint in the region. With a return on equity of 16%, achieved despite a capital ratio of 17%, the trick will be to sustain the bank’s bullish approach to investing despite the country’s economic downturn.

Bank of China, the fourth-largest bank in the world, has been an ener-getic leader in expanding overseas. In an interview with Global Finance, Chen Siqing, the bank’s president, spoke about internationalization efforts and the importance of overseas growth.

The People’s Bank of China has introduced bigger movements in its daily fixings of the country’s currency against the dollar. If sustained, this subtle change could signal that the central bank is preparing to allow greater flexibility in foreign exchange trading.

When Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) merged with Hana Bank, they formed Korea’s largest bank, with $243 billion in total assets in 2015, and $143 billion in lending as of November. CEO Ham Young-joo sat down with Global Finance editors to discuss economic conditions and KEB Hana’s plans for growth.

President Jokowi is a radical departure from Indonesia’s political and military elite, which perhaps explains why he is such a populist leader at home. But foreign investors find him difficult to read.

Asian Development Bank Section: ADB Annual Meeting
Last year’s historic Asian Development Bank (ADB) annual meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan saw the bank and member countries commit to a wide range of goals and reforms.